by Pastor Cecil | Nov 9, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
Acts 28:26-27
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’ And He said, ‘Go, and tell this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.’ ”
Several years ago a pastor friend of mine sent the cassette tape of a message that had real impact. It was a sermon by Dr. Charles Stanley on the dangers we face by listening to advice from the wrong sources. I have no intention of trying to duplicate what he said, (I would fail miserably), but I do want to focus on that very critical area.
Think about the times in your own experience when you ask for advice. It could be which car to buy, which dealer to select, what color to wear, what class to take, etc., but we all seem to be sort of sponges soaking up input from just about anybody that we bump into along our way.
It may seem to be harmless to ask for advice on the personal choices of our lives. We may want to seek counsel on career objectives from a variety of sources, including Christian vocational counselors. But when it comes to the area of our spiritual life, it is dangerous to get advice from the wrong sources.
We have people today who may be Christians, but who are not giving sound Christian counsel. We have Christian counselors who give counsel based upon worldly wisdom rather than the sure and certain foundation of the Word of God. They are Christian counselors but not giving Christian counsel.
I have been fascinated by a passage of Scripture in II Chronicles chapter 18. It is too long to type it all out for you. Please take the time to get your Bible and look up and read that entire chapter. Three main characters are presented here: Ahab (king of the northern kingdom – Israel), Jehoshaphat (king of the southern kingdom – Judah), and Micaiah, the faithful prophet of the Lord. Let me give you the condensed version of the story.
Ahab was the wicked king of the northern kingdom; his wife, Jezebel, was known for her wickedness and the one who had tried to kill Elijah. She and Ahab had a daughter named Athalia. Jezebel died but the wickedness continued.
Jehoshaphat was the righteous king of the southern kingdom. He had a son named Jehoram that he married to Ahab’s daughter. We have no idea why this first conciliation between the two kingdoms should join righteousness and wickedness. Jehoshaphat went to Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, to visit Ahab. Ahab wanted Jehoshaphat to join him in fighting the Syrians to retake a town, Ramoth Gilead.
Are you still with me? Aren’t you glad this is the condensed version?
Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet of the Lord that would let them know what God’s will was in the matter. Ahab had killed almost all the prophets of the Lord and replaced them with pagan prophets who would tell him what he wanted to hear. Four hundred of these false prophets said that they should go into battle and victory would be theirs.
Jehoshaphat was still insistent that the Lord be heard in the matter. It was only then that Ahab admitted that there was still one prophet of the Lord, but he hated him because he always prophesied bad things. After prompting, Micaiah prophesied that he saw all of Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd.
You will have to read the chapter to see what happens!! (That is what we call salting the oats).
If the people you seek counsel from do not give you Godly counsel, reject it. If they do not go to the Lord in prayer and ask for Divine wisdom in giving you Godly counsel—run, don’t walk. Get with someone who knows the God of the Bible and will take you by the hand and say to you about your situation: “Thus saith the Lord!”
In this day of fouled up morality and value systems, we need the unchangeable, unalterable Word of God to be our guide for life.
Let me pray for you. “Father in heaven, I come to You in behalf of the person who is reading this right now. They feel alone and in need of Your touch in their life. Show them in some special way that you know all about the problem and if they will just trust themselves to Your care, You will care for them. Lord, please let them know that the answer they see is not just a coincidence, but Your tender touch. In Jesus Name I pray this. Amen!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 8, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
Ephesians 5:17-21
“Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
I was in the office working on the computer when Joyce called to me. “Honey, come and listen to this. It is classical guitar and I know that is one of your favorites. I was in eager anticipation thinking it may be a piece by Andres Segovia, who is a brilliant classical guitarist.
It was a bitter disappointment to hear the sound from the classic FM station. It was a classical guitar, but the sound was anything but enjoyable. There seemed to be no melody—only a jumble of notes that lacked purpose. It took only a few seconds for me to seek the solitude of my office. Joyce was also quick to turn it off.
Since then I have been thinking about the lack of melody in the lives of many people. This is reflective in many areas of life and echoed in modern music. The thud–thud and ding–ding of modern music seems to cry out that there is a lack of melody and harmony around us.
Please do not tell me that it is because of all of the pain and suffering. Some of our greatest hymns have been written in the pressure cooker of affliction. I am thinking of one hymn which fits today’s Daily-E-Votional perfectly. Luther Bridgers wrote the words and music to, “There’s Within My Heart A Melody” shortly after the tragic death of his wife and three sons.
A native of North Carolina, he began preaching at the age of seventeen. Recognizing his need of higher education, he attended Asbury Seminary. For the rest of his life, he would serve as a pastor and evangelist in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He married and had three sons.
Luther’s zeal as an evangelist often required him to be away from home while he preached. During one of these absences in 1910, his wife took the three boys to visit her parents in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. During the night, a neighbor noticed fire shooting from the house and ran to waken the family. The parents were roused in time, but Luther’s wife and boys could not be reached in the swiftly mounting flames. All four died.
It seems that there could be no melody in a heart that must have been crushed, but Luther Bridgers had a melody that was from within and gave meaning and purpose, even in the flames of adversity. Listen to the words:
“There’s within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
‘Fear not I am with thee,
Peace, be still In all of life’s ebb and flow.’
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest name I know
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.”
Are you in the midst of grief, sorrow or confusion right now? If you have Jesus Christ in your heart—He is your melody! In the most violent storms of life—He is your harmony! In your most perplexing situation—He is your symphony! Let His sweet music flow through you.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 7, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
James 4:13-17
“But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent–not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.”
I recently received the following story from “Surfing With Jesus” by my friend Pastor Gene Dasher. It says so much that words of explanation are not necessary. Thanks Gene.
“Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’ Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.
Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of his other favorite toys. Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.
It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease…in fact; she was just sure it was fatal. She scheduled the double mastectomy.
The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her…what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won’t understand that I didn’t want to leave him. The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.
The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.
Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap. Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.
When Mary woke for a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong. She couldn’t move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had covered her with his love.
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking farther and farther together every day. It’s been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky continues to steal treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
Remember….live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget…the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for us.
If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.”
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 6, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
James 4:13-17
“But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent–not to be too severe. This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.”
I once heard a sad story of failure to forgive, and the horrible results. A husband had been involved with an affair with another woman. After a time, his infidelity was discovered. He returned to his wife and begged for her forgiveness for his stupidity and sinful action.
His wife said he could return, but that she would not forgive him until he paid the price for the pain and suffering he had caused her. In the weeks, months and years that followed, he was a paragon of virtue. He did every conceivable thing he could to gain his wife’s forgiveness, but his wife refused to forgive him for the pain and humiliation he had caused.
After a number of years the wife became very ill. The husband waited on her hand and foot. Her every need was met without murmur or complaint. Slowly she began to recover her health once again–due in no small part to the tender care he gave her.
When her health had fully returned, she called her husband to her side and thanked him for the wonderful way he had cared for her while she was so ill. She reached out her hand to him and said: “I am now ready to forgive you for being untrue to me—you are forgiven!”
The husband did not take her hand. He stood and uttered words of bitterness. “It is too late for you to forgive me. I have earned it! You could only truly forgive me when I did not deserve to be forgiven! Now I do not need it nor do I want it!” He turned and walked away from her.
Every time I think about that incident I am torn up inside. I hear from many individuals who are agonizing because they have not been forgiven for something they have done. Others call or write that they simply are not able to forgive someone for their misdeeds.
In addition to today’s passage, there are many Scriptures that tell us in no uncertain terms that we are to freely forgive those who have hurt us. In Matthew 18:21-22, the Apostle Peter asked Jesus how often he was to forgive his brother who sinned against him. “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’ “
Here is a quick question for each of us: Are there any people in our life that we have not forgiven? Perhaps we try to justify our refusal to forgive for many different reasons. None of them will be acceptable to the Lord. When He tells us to forgive—“up to seventy times seven,”—it essentially means we always are to forgive! Let’s do it!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Nov 5, 2007 | Daily-E-Votionals
James 4:13-17
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit’; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’ But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
Back in the early 70’s, I worked for the Idaho Law Enforcement Planning Commission. Our major objective was to reduce crime. In order to achieve our objective we had both short range and long range goals. Part of our efforts were directed to deal with immediate critical issues that had to be dealt with, but our major objective was to develop a long range plan to assist local communities to reduce crime.
I see a strong similarity in today’s Scripture. I want to assure you that this passage does not teach that we are to sit on our “do-nothings” and do nothing. The teaching that James is attempting to get across has to do with boasting about the future without considering what God has to say about the matter.
God’s plan is for us to be active and responsible in looking toward the future — with His divine care, provision and leadership. If we leave the Lord out of our planning — we basically have no future, and what future we do have is bleak.
We are looking beyond the temporal and considering the eternal! Knowing, as James says, that life is like a mist which comes and so quickly goes, what are we planning for?
If our long range planning is so short sighted that it is limited to the here and now, how sad is our lot. We need to use our time and energy to serve the Lord in such a way that we are in reality planning for eternity. Now that is really long range-planning!
Across the centuries God’s faithful servants have seemingly squandered their chances of success in this life. They have said no to the glitter and appeal of the world in order to follow the Lord’s plan. They have left wealth, family and stability to serve as missionaries, pastors and other ministries. They come to retirement years with little or nothing to live on – – – Oh! Wait! That is not so is it? The Lord is there to provide even in this world.
Yes, God provides our needs in this human existence, but this is not our goal. Our home is not here in this world. Our treasures are laid up in glory. Every act of obedience to God’s will is another deposit in our heavenly account. No, salvation is not earned by our acts, but as born again believers, we are planning for eternity by giving our all for the Lord.
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today and be a blessing.
– – – Pastor Cecil
